Musical Selections from Nodame
by Isee
Summary: After letting go of Nodame, Chiaki Shinichi is forced to view her from afar. He has become a passive spectator in an audience that has accepted her as he failed to do. Speculation of what could happen if things continue to not go well in the Paris arc.
1. Prelude

_Prelude_

He had all three of Noda Megumi's CDs. One showed her in a sleeveless black dress at a grand piano situated at the top of an ascending staircase – a collection of live recordings of various piano concertos she had performed with the New York Philharmonic over the years. It was the most austere of the albums, both in content and artwork, but her pout was still intact: you could tell she had actually been playing when the photograph had been taken.

The second CD cover was a close-up of Nodame in a sundress and a hat playing on a white piano with some beach – ostensibly Malibu – in the background. The pout was more obvious here: it had become a trademark of sorts. This CD made him wary – not only because of the ocean in the artwork, but also because the CD also contained Nodame's wild improvisations of well-known pieces. Those were only added in as interludes though – the majority of the CD was filled with notationally correct, if bizarrely interpreted, piano pieces.

The third CD – he had gagged when he first saw it. He had almost left the store three times before finally purchasing it. It was entitled "Original Compositions" and featured the surreal artwork of Nodame sitting on a crescent moon with what seemed to be anime characters dressed as stars dancing about her. The CD was indeed filled with her original compositions. Oddly enough, he heard that this was the best-selling of all her CDs. Apparently children loved the songs, especially as one of them was a popular ending sequence of Puri Gorota.

Chiaki Shinichi hid these CDs in his bookshelf and the majority of the time pretended they didn't exist. Once in a while though – he would take out one or all three of them, and listen.


	2. Selection 1: Tchaikovsky

_Selection 1: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1_

The piece started with the orchestra playing strongly, followed by Nodame's equally strong piano chords. The orchestra followed, harmonizing softly.

The range of years that the concertos the CD covered spanned four. There had probably been better concertos played with other orchestras, but it was cheaper to pay royalties to only one orchestra. Over four years, she had played seven concertos with the New York Philharmonic. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto had been her debut performance, not only with that orchestra, but with any orchestra. With that piece she had burst onto the musical scene. The loud, flashy, technically challenging piece had been a good selection. Nodame had always erred on the side of loud and fast. Even with the problems of recording at a live concert as opposed to a studio, her sound stood out clearly and passionately. The orchestra seemed to dance with her throughout the concerto. Chiaki had heard that New Yorkers had given the new pianist a standing ovation. Reviews had said that Megumi Noda had the rare talent of captivating an audience, ushering them into the world of her music. They had praised her skill, her showmanship, and her refreshing interpretation. That was the beginning of the career of Nodame, as she was known in the United States and Canada – the Dame of the Piano.

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_Responses to reviews (and non-reviews):_

_**Ebony10: **Thank you for your review. This is another short section. The next chapter is a bit longer._

_**ChalakChalak:** Thanks for your review. I agree, there aren't enough Nodame stories out there period. It's a really sweet manga -- that actually tries to teach you about music, art, and culture._

_**Liliumscribe: **Thanks for your review. I'd looking forward to see where I go with this too (laughs). Right now the story is more impression/reminiscing-based, but it will eventually obtain a plot._

_**NerdSavvy and ****milan1010: **__ What's up with putting this story on your alert and not submitting a review? Just kidding -- I'd be tempted to do the same since reviewing seems like it takes too much effort sometimes. However, even just saying simple like "it was nice" or "looking forward to more" would help, since some people look for stories mainly on a review to chapter ration (like me).  
_


	3. Selection 2: Beethoven

_If you can find the musical selections it might be interesting to listen to them while reading each chapter. I tried to find concertos that I could imagine Nodame playing. Though not as exciting as Tchaikovsky's concerto, Beethoven's is still pretty good. It's also pretty nostalgic, which fits well with this chapter. Of course, unfortunately the version I listened to while writing this weren't played as uniquely as they would have been if Nodame had actually played them._

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_Selection 2: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5_

Two years after Nodame's debut, she had performed Beethoven with the New York Philharmonic. The orchestra wasn't world famous for nothing. To think that Nodame would one day play with such an orchestra and be able to hold her own. She played the piece well – stepping out lightly into the atmosphere that the orchestra sounds had painted. The concerto began the exact opposite as the Tchaikovsky – it was quiet and simple. A novice could play the opening piano notes – but no novice could play so expressively, or meander so well with the orchestra from beginning to end. Nodame had played with the air of a shy girl sharing her secrets and sweet dreams.

As spectacular as the Tchaikovsky had been, by the time Nodame had played the Beethoven it was obvious she had grown. Chiaki thought of Nodame, traveling through North America on tour, attending musical seminars, meeting other musicians: pianists, composers, conductors . . . while thinking of the people Nodame was meeting usually made Chiaki wistful, thinking of her meeting other conductors just irked him.

Of course, there was not only the conductor of the New York Philharmonic. She had performed with the Philadelphia Philharmonic as well, and in Boston, and Montreal (where she had attempted to greet the audience with her French). She had also made a stop in Chicago before traveling to Toronto, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. That was her first tour, nearly five years ago. Chiaki had read somewhere that it was in Los Angeles that she had picked up her agent, a music education graduate who had been working in a public relations firm. Anna Prado or something. She had had no experience, and had supposedly been offered the job when it was discovered that the two young women were anime enthusiasts. It was just the type of thing Nodame would do.

Yet Anna had done well for Nodame. Of course, Nodame was already garnering attention, but Anna was the one who decided that Megumi Noda would be known as Nodame, the Dame of the Piano (Westerners were unaware of the Japanese implications of the sobriquet). Anna decided to capitalize on certain attributes of Nodame's nature, such as her pout, her childishness, and her odd fashion choices (though she also tried to Los Angelize Nodame into losing weight, getting a real haircut, and buying designer clothes). While reputable music critics and patrons followed Nodame because of her exquisite piano-playing skills, Anna transformed Nodame into a persona that the layperson could relate to. Because of Anna, Nodame was known as a musician that not only reintroduced classical music to the masses, but also reached out to the younger generation. Anna negotiated deals where snippets of Nodame playing Fur Elise or Canon in D were sold as ringtones (Chiaki wondered if any of the teenagers who had those ringtones appreciated the full score of those pieces). Anna arranged for Nodame to pose in a photo shoot of Cosmo Girl (the theme was Japanese Music Student Chic). Anna also arranged for Nodame to play piano at preschools and churches in disadvantaged neighborhoods (Chiaki remembered in vivid detail the picture of Nodame crouching down to speak to a small African-American girl in a photo next to a run-down piano located somewhere in South-Central; he remembers her insisting that she was going to be a pre-school teacher). Anna was also the one who recently contacted the animation studio in charge of Puri Gorota and arranged for Nodame to compose an ending sequence to the anime.

Nodame was not an international star – yet. But she was famous in North America and semi-famous in her native Japan. She also had a reputation for giving private recitals in France and Belgium – it was said that she came back to Paris from time to time to meet with old friends, especially her old mentor Monsieur Auclair. Chiaki never saw her. He hadn't seen her for almost five years.

Obviously they couldn't even be considered acquaintances anymore. No emails or Christmas cards were exchanged. It wasn't even strange that their musical careers hadn't crossed, what with Nodame busy in the United States and Chiaki preferring to remain in Europe. He had been offered the chance to guest conduct in a few cities in the U.S., but he had declined. He didn't like planes. He didn't like the idea of being a jet-set conductor either. Not yet. One day he would tour like he had done with Stresseman. But first he wanted to build up his reputation with the Roux-Marlet Orchestra. He had put too much into it, and was going to be loyal. He occasionally guest conducted in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands – once even going as far as Italy. But for the most part he preferred not to travel. Roux-Marlet was consistently marked as one of the best-performing orchestras in Paris, even in Western Europe. Chiaki understood now that a conductor couldn't stand on his own. A conductor built a bond with his orchestra, and that bond had to be maintained. If it wasn't, it could just – die.

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_Responses to reviews and non-reviews:_

_**Milan1010:**__ I like happy endings too . . . so cross your fingers. I like your description of Chiaki as a phobic prince. I like how both Chiaki and Nodame are flawed characters (and not even flawed in the conventional anime/manga way). It gives them a good chance to grow as the story progresses._

_**Liliumscribe:**__ Volia, the longest chapter to date. Also: plot coming next chapter._

_**Athenia:**__ I hear and obey!_

_**NerdSavvy:**__ I understand; that must have been really frustrating! Thanks for reviewing the second chapter._

_**Underprotection:**__ You know, Nodame isn't even really pronounced like "Dame" but it kept coming back at me._

_**Bunny Bree:**__ Review please!_


	4. Selection 3: Gershwin

_Now that school's on break I have absolutely no excuse to not update. Wah! I feel so guilty updating such a short thing after such a long delay in updating – but there you go. At least there's plot! Sort of. Reviews encourage me to update faster. Shamefully mercernary, but true. _

* * *

_Selection 3: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue_

A rhapsody wasn't a concerto, Chiaki thought every time we played Rhapsody in Blue from the CD titled "Piano Concertos: Nodame and the New York Philharmonic." Nevertheless, it was a great synthesis of piano and orchestra. Nearly ten years ago, Nodame had played this piece on a pianica with the S orchestra, dressed as a mongoose. She had played it with the New York Philharmonic four years after her debut, it was the latest performance on the CD track. Many wondered why it had taken so long. Nodame had a reputation as a jazz as well as a classical pianist, having performed in Independence Hall in New Orleans (the improvisation and vacillating tempo suited her well, Chiaki thought stormily), and Rhapsody in Blue was the perfect blend of the two genres. In an interview afterwards Nodame had said (in nearly perfect English) that she wanted to soak up American culture before performing such an American piece. Reviewers unanimously declared that the performance was worth the wait. The arrangement was as unique as Nodame's playing. Nodame herself played loud, soft, fast, and slow – she had meandered and she had rushed through various sections, displaying her broad technical skills and range of emotion. She also performed well with the orchestra – an orchestra that by then was an old friend.

After listening to Rhapsody in Blue, Chiaki made up his mind. He was going to see Nodame's next performance with the New York Philharmonic live.

* * *

_Responses to reviews and non-reviews:_

_**Liliumscribe:**__ Of course Nodame would be a hit in America! Japan and Europe just don't understand her! PS: Liliumscribe wins loyal reviewer award. Thanks for noticing this fic from the beginning and taking the time to review it!_

_**NerdSavvy:**__ Yes, it is the little quirks and imperfections that make characters seem alive, isn't it?_

_**milan1010:**__ How are they going to meet? Unexpectedly, of course! It wouldn't be a Nodame romance if Chiaki got to be composed. Nodame really does seem to take the initiative in the relationship, but as seen in the Paris Christmas arc, it isn't always serious – or at least Chiaki can interpret it as not serious. Nodame really does seem to throw her whole heart into the relationship, which is why I'm actually glad when she takes time for herself (her music and friends) and Chiaki can be a little bit jealous. Wow, long response. I guess you had an especially thought-provoking review._

_**Tacitus-8:**__ Yes, plot! It has arrived! I like the feeling of drabbles, but for some reason don't really like the format since they never really go anywhere. The whole thing about "light and descriptive but had some subtle heavy implications" makes perfect sense! Thanks for picking up on that! I don't like to say everything out loud, and since I'm taught as an English major to pick out minute details and analyze them to no end I try to work the same thing into my own writing – though I complain to my fellow English majors that there's no way authors actually put that much thought into such minute little details (do they?)._

_**Bunny Bree, Rasielle, chynn23, and glasskimono:**__ Please review! Every time I get a review I think about this fic, and the more I think about it, the more I'm likely to write for it, and the more I write for it, the sooner I'll update!_


	5. Selection 4: Chopin

_Break's over! So I'm updating. It seems lack of school leaves me in such an inertia that I can't even bring myself to update, yet too much school leaves me too busy to do so. Hmm. By the way, the selections have moved from the CD with the New York Philharmonic to the CD with solo pieces. _

* * *

_Selection 4: Chopin's Fantasia Impromptu_

"What on earth possessed me to do this!?!!" Chiaki thought as he gripped his armrest 10,000 meters above the Atlantic Ocean. Well, maybe he wasn't exactly over the ocean _yet._

But he would be eventually. Why was he flying across the ocean again?

Chiaki calmed as the seatbelt sign was turned off (not that Chiaki would be unbuckling his seatbelt, but it made him breathe easier—the knowledge that they were not on the brink of a fatal crash). He took deep breaths. An airline attendant announced that electronics could now be used. Chiaki immediately turned on his ipod. It was set on Nodame's interpretation of Chopin's Fantasia Impromptu. A fast, technical piece, though Chiaki didn't recall Nodame ever playing it when they knew each other. There were many Chopin pieces the CD ("Nodame's Classical Interpretations") that Chiaki had burned onto his computer and transferred onto his itunes. Chopin had been a pianist himself, even a piano teacher. His greatest complaint had been that people did not play with enough expression. Surely he would not have made that accusation of Nodame. The piece's soft, gentle passages calmed Chiaki, yet did not lull him to sleep. He was caught in anticipation of what would come next, which eventually was a resurgence of the crescendos and fortes that the piece was famous for.

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_Responses to reviews and non-reviews:_

_**Liliumscribe: **__I'm sorry this is another short piece. Next one will be longer, I promise! I looked up Leonard Bernstein's Rhapsody in Blue on youtube. It was really nice, different from the version I have (I'm pleasantly surprised am actually able to recognize the difference!)._

_**chynn23:**__ Thanks for the review! I think it's cool that a manga/anime like Nodame Cantabile is able to revive some interest in classical music. I only knew a little about it because I used to play piano. Now I think of Nodame every time I practice (which isn't very often)._

_**NerdSavvy:**__ Ah Rhapsody in Blue—brings back memories (of the manga). I like how Nodame Cantabile has been able to transition from being in Japan to being in France (and now in the US thanks to this fic, haha)._

_**Ebony10:**__ I promise I'll be better about updating from now on. In fact, if I don't update within a week you can complain—by submitting another review! Haha, I'm kidding. I actually will update in a week._

_**Milan1010:**__ I don't know if Nodame is the type to play hard to get—but if she did I'm sure if would be hilarious. Hmm . . . Actually I had imagined Nodame being hurt and sincere more than anything else. If you've seen the latest update of Nodame Cantabile, she does take time to focus more on herself – with negative consequences of course. Sigh, it's all a matter of timing!_

_**imoutosan:**__ It's a surprise (how they meet), at least I hope it will be._

_**Last Remnant of Fragile Things, glasskimono, and Rasielle:**__ First of all, I would like to say that all three of you have very pretty usernames. Now it's your turn. Please review!_


	6. Interlude

_An interlude, from Nodame's point of view. Coincidentally, this section is a bit longer than the rest. I wonder why that is? I really need to think hard about the next chapter._

* * *

_Interlude: Nodame and Anna_

"Gyabo!" Nodame gasped as she ducked behind a potted palm to hide from Anna. Anna was nice, but had recently decided that she and Nodame would go on another diet. This one was called Eden's diet something-or-other and the gist of it, as far as Nodame knew, was that she wasn't allowed to eat anything that had meat or anything that had been cooked or processed in any way. Well, Anna had another thing coming if she thought Nodame was going to stay at this boring cocktail party without the benefit of the yummy hor d'oeuvres that were being provided. All of the people there were either rich or famous. Some of them were interesting and knew about music, but most of them seemed to be there because it was on their social calendar, or because they had been raised to think that music was something rich people should appreciate. Nodame didn't like these people. She would rather be playing the Moja Moja Suite to preschoolers, even if they weren't rich. Anna liked the preschool kids too, but she also liked these fancy parties. Nodame had liked them too at first, but after five years they had gotten boring.

"Nodame!"

"Gyabo!"

Anna had found her. Nodame gave up on eating, but made sure to sneak particularly appetizing treats into her purse. She would eat them later that night. Though Anna was usually strict about what Nodame ate even when they weren't on a team diet, Anna didn't care at all when they watched anime. She would even join in on the snacking as they watched the antics of Kuzo and Pirin. Nodame would be sure to suggest a marathon of Puri Gorota that night. She didn't see what was so great about Eden if all they had to eat was raw vegetables and oatmeal.

Anna forcibly escorted Nodame around the party, something called "mixing." Nodame sighed. Nodame knew that these parties were where Anna established most of her contacts, and that Anna wasn't likely to get into certain parties if Nodame wasn't with her, but Anna was no fun at these parties. She went into Serious Agent Mode. But at least even if she didn't like these parties anymore, Nodame still enjoyed getting ready for them. She and Anna would empty half their closet/trunk and try on at least three dresses each, even if they eventually settled on dresses that they had decided to wear a week ago. Anna would do Nodame's hair and make-up. All the while they would guess who would be at the party and Anna would do impersonations. Nodame bet that Mr. Rouchenbouter never guessed that the woman currently before him, bantering pleasantly, had imitated his way of rolling his stomach out, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and laughing like a donkey.

"Why of course I'll be making a donation to the New York Philharmonic again this year, Miss Garcia. We can't let our Dame of Piano play with a sub-standard orchestra now, can we? Of course, it would be delightful if Nodame could come play a few pieces for the garden party my family is holding in two nights' time."

"But Mr. Rouchenbouter, that's the night before the concert –"

"Well surely that can't hurt a professional like our Nodame, eh?"

Anna smiled, "Oh Mr. Rouchenbouter –"

"There will be many other musical patrons there as well, you know. You ought to be honored. It's an opportunity."

This was undoubtedly true. Mr. Rouchenbouter had been filthy rich from birth and was a bit pompous, but he was also very well-connected in the musical world—especially in Europe. Anna knew that Nodame didn't like to stay up late the night before a concert, but she also knew that it was time for Nodame to break into the European music scene. Piano recitals weren't enough. She needed a large-scale concert performance.

"We'll be there, Mr. Rouchenbouter."

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_Responses to reviews and non-reviews:_

_**Liliumscribe:**__ Even if I don't apologize, I'll still feel guilty. I hope this story will always meet your expectations—in content, if not in the speed of the updates._

_**Ebony10:**__ Just a little bit longer until they meet—which is a bit nerve-wracking for me. I agree that Nodame Cantabile has definitely reinforced my appreciation of the classicals._

_**NerdSavvy:**__ I'm glad that you enjoyed your school's orchestra concert preview. Did you attend the actual concert?_

_**Ahotep:**__ Thanks for reading, and for your review! I'm glad that Nodame Cantabile has opened your eyes to classical music—it seems it's done so for a lot of fans. Keep reading (and reviewing)!_

_**milan1010:**__ Aw, so the Europe special did come out! It kind of makes me want to watch it—but I was never into the live drama actually. Fortunately NCIS recently released a whole volume of the manga. It seems like they're still going through a bit of a rough patch, but I think they've gotten over the worst of it. The thing I like about Nodame Cantabile is that it explores relationship problems that can occur even after the characters have "gotten together."_

_**Kandida:**__ Hi, thanks for reviewing. This chapter's a bit longer. Don't worry, we'll eventually see Nodame and Chiaki together._

_**Rasielle, Last Remnant of Fragile Things, and glasskimono:**__ I'm not giving up until I get at least _one_ review from each of you. Pleeeeease?!_


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